This is our fourth and penultimate of five battles in the Jackson Valley Campaign of 1862 and the eighth battle in our series of the American Civil Wargames in 3D.It sees a Union force under General John C Frémont launching an attack against Ewell’s division, whilst the Confederate General Thomas J “Stonewall” Jackson is holding Port Republic against another pending Union attack (The final battle of the series).

The Union army outnumbers the Confederates nearly two to one, so can they change history this time around and win at the battle of Cross Keys?

Cross Keys initially has a time limit of 14 bounds in which the Union must achieve their task objective.Its design allows for a fast, fun and realistic game with in a 1 to 2 hour period of continuous play. The game gives a flavor of the American Civil War period and a simple chain of command solution adds intrigue to the game, keep the chain of command together and everything is fine, lose it and it could cost you the game?

Combat is designed around the three factors that appear on the unit counters, these indicate the Range, Attack and Strength of the represented unit. You don’t even need any dice to play the game since a dice tile system is included with the game, but if you want to roll dice then it’s the simple six sided variety that you will require.

The game board is designed to be used either 2 dimensionally as a straight print and play or 3 dimensionally, this takes a little more time to construct but it is well worth the effort for the impressive game board you get at its completion. The final 3D game board gives you a realistic feel to the terrain and shows the tactical dispositions of all the game counters.

Included with the download is the 3D Game Board in two quadrants, the Cross Keysfive page Battle Report, the Gaming Counters, a simple guide on how to build a 3D Game Board, the Brothers At Arms twenty page Rules Booklet with Playsheet, a twenty four hour Timeline Table and finally a set of Tile Dice. The game rules are fast and easy to learn and will be the same throughout the full series of American Civil War in 3D.

Can you continue this great series of battles with anothervictory? Play North or South in this the eighthof the American Civil War in 3D series of board games.

Port Republic is next in the series and it comes with a continued play option that is dependent on the tactical objectives you win in this game.